Vlad must be pissed that he’s being stressed the fuck out during the 3 day no poop challenge. It’s hard to keep the backdoor sealed when you're stressed out.
Vladimir Putin made an appeal where he called Prigozhin's rebellion a betrayal and a stab in the back. He did not mention the name of the founder of Wagner PMC
The day before, Prigozhin accused the Russian military leadership of rocket attacks on his Wagner PMC camps in the rear and killing his militants. After Putin's appeal, he said that the president was "deeply mistaken"
There is no independent confirmation of Prigozhin's accusations, the Ministry of Defense denies everything. FSB opened a criminal case on incitement to armed rebellion
Mercenaries from PMC "Wagner" led by Yevgeny
Prigozhin blocked military facilities in Rostov and Voronezh
The Armed Forces of Ukraine launched a missile attack on the occupied Genichesk, from which more than 100 km to the front line
This is going to give Ukraine a lot of breathing room. Not only does it take Wagner Group out of the picture, but Putin is going to bed to devote already thinly stretched military resources to try and contain a coup.
Long-term, this could be troubling. As fascist as Putin is, Prigozhin is a straight up Nazi. Russia somehow pushing even further to the right is a scary thought. Hopefully Prigozhin and Putin soften each other up enough to allow more progressive elements to consolidate power, but I'm not holding my breath.
I hope the infight between Putin and Prigozhin is nasty enough that the Freedom of Russia Legion and Russian Volunteer Corps can give them both a run for their money.
Your scenario does not contemplate the crippled economy, with the oil spigot to Europe turned way down, as well as all other continuing sanctions and embargos, which is turning russia into an economic vassal of Beijing as we speak.
The mayor of Moscow, Sergei Sobyanin, has just put out a statement on Telegram announcing that "a counter-terrorist operation regime has been declared in Moscow" and that Monday will be a "non-working day" to "minimise risks".
I'd give it 50/50 they actually put up resistance or roll over. You can counter terrorist all you want until the terrorists are seasoned mercenaries with tanks knocking at the door
So who we cheering for on this one? I mean if they could destroy each other that’s ideal. Ukraine wins by confusion on the Russian side but I can’t imagine Prigozhin is better than Putin. Seems like trading same for same.
I'm just cheering on for more Russian infighting. The Citizens of Russia have sooooo much work to do to fix their shit country. There's pretty much no good outcome for them in the short-term. But this could be great for Ukraine in the short-run, so that's the best we can hope for imho.
If anything, if this somehow speeds up an end to the war that could be a net positive for everyone. Like Ukraine, Russia cannot move forward in any real way until the war is concluded.
They are the same thing and there is no difference between them. Both are ruthless and barbaric. Nothing changes for Ukraine except for a brief opportunity to strike while the russians are in confusion.
IMHO not the smartest move of Prigozyhin to stop now and close a deal. There are no guarantees that Putin won't stab him in the back as soon as he leaves Moscow. Why would he tolerate such behavior? The only thing Prigozyhin can do is push through.
DISCLAIMER: THIS IS A MACHINE TRANSLATION OF AN UNVERIFIED TELEGRAM POST.
⚡️⚡⚡️ Message from the press service of the President of the Republic of Belarus.
This morning, Russian President Vladimir Putin briefed his Belarusian counterpart on the situation in southern Russia with the private military company Wagner. The heads of state agreed on joint actions.
As a follow-up to the agreements, the President of Belarus, having additionally specified the situation through his own channels, and in agreement with the President of Russia, held talks with the head of Wagner PMC Yevgeny Prigozhin.
Negotiations continued throughout the day. As a result, they came to agreements on the inadmissibility of unleashing a bloody massacre on the territory of Russia. Yevgeny Prigozhin accepted the proposal of the President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko to stop the movement of armed persons of the Wagner company on the territory of Russia and take further steps to de-escalate tensions.
At the moment, on the table is an absolutely profitable and acceptable option for solving the situation, with security guarantees for the Wagner PMC fighters.
As previously reported, also during today, the President of Belarus held two meetings with the power bloc of the country on this situation.
DISCLAIMER: THIS IS A MACHINE TRANSLATION OF AN UNVERIFIED TELEGRAM POST.
The governor of the Rostov region appeared on video for the first time in a day. Vasily Golubev urged local residents not to approach clusters of military equipment and armed people, and also not to leave their homes unnecessarily.
The head of the region, whose capital was occupied by Wagner PMC mercenaries participating in the rebellion, claims that transport, ambulance and utilities are functioning normally.
The Rise publication noticed that in a video message published on Golubev's Telegram channel, he stands against the background of an inverted flag of the Rostov region. According to the science of flags, banners and standards, this means disaster or defeat in war. Otherwise, flying an inverted flag is considered an insult to him.
Cynical about the whole thing.
Because if this is for real and not political theater, it most definitely is a case of "meet the new boss, same as the old boss".
Residents of Moscow allegedly began to receive calls from unfamiliar numbers supposedly from PMC "Wagner" - residents are called to "support the Wagnerites and take to the streets,"
DISCLAIMER: THIS IS A MACHINE TRANSLATION OF AN UNVERIFIED TELEGRAM POST.
❗️Prigozhin: We are deploying our columns
"We walked less than 200 km from Moscow during this time we did not shed a single drop of blood of our fighters. Now the moment has come when blood can be shed, therefore. Realizing all the responsibility that Russian blood will be shed on one of the sides. We we deploy our columns and leave in the opposite direction to the field camps according to the plan," Prigozhin's new audio message says.
Latest War on the Rocks podcast recently came out with Michael Kofman being interviewed. Mostly about the Ukraine offensive, as the podcast was recorded shortly before the Prighozin situation ramped up, but it does talk a bit about Prighozin at the end.
DISCLAIMER: THIS IS A MACHINE TRANSLATION OF AN UNVERIFIED TELEGRAM POST
Source: PMC "Wagner" can directly subordinate to the President of the Russian Federation - one of the conditions of the deal with Prigozhin.
According to Cooperative sources, during the negotiations between Lukashenka and Yevgeny Prigozhin, a decision was made to directly subordinate the Wagner structures to Vladimir Putin. Mercenaries are no longer required to sign contracts with the Ministry of Defense.
The criminal case against Prigogine will also be dropped.
There is no official confirmation of this information yet.
If this is true, Prigozhin, Putin, or MoD will be dead within a week. No way this will be sustainable. Prigozhin made himself the defacto #2 and defied the regime without consequences. Putin only got more time in office without civil war. It feels like this is far from over.
What is going on? It seems highly unlikely that they will both let bygones be bygones and just get back to business as usual, minus Shoigu. No one has challenged Putin like this before, and many people have been killed for much less. Unless Prigozhin is stupid he must know this. And it seems unlikely Putin was in on this scheme to get rid of the military leadership, since he could already have done that any time.
Was Prigozhin scared off by the reports of Kadyrov's forces heading his way? Is he just stalling for time now while he tries to figure out how he and Wagner can survive?